Assistance
by Lukeprism
Summary: Touya's fairly sure that there's something special about Juniper's new assistant. — RedHatshipping, Touya x Lucas.


_**A/N: Touya is seventeen whilst Lucas is fourteen. Just letting you know. Slight AU is pretty slight, so don't worry too much.**_

WARNINGS: Uhm, mild language, questionable themes later on and eventual BL (yaoi, shounen-ai, whichever term suits your fancy).

DISCLAIMER: Because I know you automatically assume I own the Pokémon franchise, allow me to assure you that I don't in any way, shape or form. C:

**—s—t—a—r—t—c—h—a—p—t—e—r—**

Touya hated mornings.

Even back in his younger days, he'd never been fond of them. It always came too damn _fast_, the morning did. Though the pokémon centers' beds hadn't been the best, they'd still been more inviting than the harsh morning sunlight trying in vain to beckon him out of the warmth of sleep. He would always groan irritably and shove his head under his pillow for that extra five, ten, thirty minutes of dozing.

Now, enveloped in his plush and soft black sheets, it was even more of a hassle to awaken each morning. Luckily (not so much for him), he had somewhat of an alarm clock to help him with that. A smooth, warm appendage gently rubbed his back, coaxing him into consciousness. When Touya merely grunted and rolled away a bit, said appendage became more forceful, now pushing sternly—hard enough that Touya actually fell off the other side of his bed and collided with the floor in a drowsy mess.

Cursing, he flailed around a bit until he managed to sit up straight, holding on to his bed's frame for extra support. "_Dammit_, Serperior! What have I told you? Don't wake me up by force until _eleven_."

When he managed to get up on his feet, he blinked his bleary chocolate eyes a few times and focused in on the digital clock on his nightstand. _Eleven o'clock_, it read clearly. The Serperior that sat coiled by the bed gave Touya a familiarly disapproving look. Said boy frowned. "Punctual as always," he relented, scratching the back of his shaggy head sleepily.

He made his way to the bathroom in that slow, zombie-like walk that was his norm. Shedding his pajama top, he grabbed the nearest shirt, a black one, in the closet and pulled it on his person haphazardly, doing the same with a dark pair of pants. Blinking at himself in the mirror, he simply stared for a moment. Thick brown hair framing his face, half-lidded eyes, five foot nine inch stature, somewhat thin frame. He had grown from a scrawny fourteen-year-old boy with a dream into a near-fully grown seventeen-year-old young man whom did little besides watch television, play video games or go for walks with his pokémon.

Shrugging his shoulders, he sauntered out of the room, hunting around for the pair of socks he'd worn the day before. He'd followed his dream, but it hadn't been as great as it'd seemed to his childhood self.

Padding into the kitchen in the socks he'd found under the bed, he opened one of the upper cabinets and grabbed the bag of pokéfood and three bowls before closing it back up. "Alright, you guys, brunch," Touya announced unceremoniously, letting one of the bowls (plastic, thankfully) clatter to the floor. He poured a generous amount of food into it, and Serperior made a noise of appreciation, though it waited until the other two pokémon were presented with their own portions to dig in.

At the square dining table surrounded with a single wooden chair on each side, a particularly grumpy-looking Scrafty sat, regarding its trainer with the usual indifferent stare it had. Touya, though he knew that deep down the pokémon cared for him just as he himself did, mirrored the expression as he served it its food. Scrafty pulled the bowl toward him before stuffing a handful into its mouth hungrily, crunching loudly. Serperior hissed a bit at its companion for the lack of manners.

Finally the brunette came around to the other pokémon, his trusty Reuniclus, which beamed good-naturedly at its trainer as it always did. Touya grimaced. "Re, it's way too early to be so goddamn happy," he grumbled, serving it less food than the previous two pokémon. If anything, Reuniclus only smiled wider, making a happy noise when Touya patted it affectionately on the head region despite himself. Its body jiggled accordingly.

The two green pokémon waited expectantly for Touya to eat with them, but he merely waved at them to go on. "Go ahead, I'm not hungry."

While Serperior was perfectly fine starting without him, Reuniclus' expression fell a bit and it floated over to him worriedly, using its psychic power to communicate its feelings. _Are you okay?_

Touya, for the first time that day, laughed. "I'm fine, Re. Just not hungry. Now go eat before Scrafty steals your food. I'm going to say g'morning to Bri and the toad," he insisted, gently shooing the pokémon away.

Reuniclus continued to look back for a moment. _If you're sure._ It then turned just in time to see Scrafty sticking a hand into its bowl of food and managed to give him a warning dose of Psychic, causing Scrafty to make a shrill sound and retract its hand immediately. Touya managed another chuckle before making his way through the back door of his home.

The late morning's cool breeze hit his face head-on, a refreshing feeling for he whom had gotten used to the stagnant air of inside the house. There was no fence separating his backyard from the surrounding area, but his house was far enough away from the others in town that it wasn't a problem. There was a shallow pond of water to the left of the lot, and in this pond a Seismitoad lay quite lazily, appearing to be napping. Closer and a little to the right was his Braviary, perched majestically on a small tree and staring intently down at something.

Deciding to go and say hello, Touya noticed what the bird pokémon had been looking at as he made his way over and sped up his pace a bit. Braviary made a little noise of recognition when Touya neared it, but the boy was preoccupied with the injured Lillipup lying at the tree's base. It's eyes were squeezed shut in pain and it whimpered helplessly every few seconds. Touya knelt down beside it, examining it to the best of his ability. "Bri, did you do this?" Though the pokémon did feed itself, it usually only hunted Patrat in the nearby forestry.

Braviary made an indignant sound and ruffled its feathers a bit; bird language for a vehement 'no.'

Touya knew that Braviary was a prideful pokémon, and that it wouldn't lie to him, so he was confused as to how exactly the Lillipup had gotten hurt in the first place. But then again, it didn't really matter; the point was, it was hurt and needed professional attention, and Touya was not the one for the job. So the boy gently went to pick it up. It flinched and made a louder noise out of fright, struggling in his grasp. "Shh," Touya hushed it in a soothing tone, patting its head very softly in an attempt to calm it. "I won't hurt you."

It took a minute, but eventually the small pokémon gave up and allowed Touya to carry it. Standing up, Touya began walking away from his house and toward where the majority of the houses stood down, the center of Nuvema Town. Ignoring the other houses, he went straight for the largest building; the laboratory, where Professor Juniper resided. Nuvema didn't have a traditional pokémon center, but Juniper could do the job just as well.

Throwing the door open haphazardly, Touya stepped in rather hurriedly, Lillipup whimpering in his arms. "Juniper, I need your assistance," he called, looking around the lab's main room for the middle-aged woman.

There was someone there, yes, but it wasn't exactly who he was looking for. The boy sat on the floor, looking rather startled by Touya's abrupt presence, holding Juniper's prized Cinccino in his lap. He wore a vest and baggy dark grey pants, as well as a red beret that covered his short dark hair almost completely. His eyes were a steely, grayish shade of blue and he didn't look older than fourteen or so; his frame was a good bit smaller than Touya's own. The brunette looked down at him quizzically. "You're not Juniper," he observed flatly, though mildly curious as to whom this boy was—Touya had never seen him before.

The boy gave him a half-smile. "No, I'm not," he agreed, patting the Cinccino on the head a few times. He then used his other hand to point towards the lab's rear. "She's back there."

Touya blinked once, twice, and nodded. "'Kay. Thanks." Deciding to just accept the boy's presence rather than question it, he proceeded to jog back to Juniper's actual office; he had more important matters to attend to.

The woman just so happened to attempt to exit said office just as Touya reached the door. She recoiled a bit in surprise, but her face relaxed into a familiar smile and she placed her hands on her hips. "Touya!" She wore her usual lab coat and black skirt. "What a pleasant surprise. How are you?"

The young man threw formality to the wind. "Juniper, this pokémon's hurt," he explained quickly, motioning to the injured Lillipup in his arms. It whimpered as if on cue, validating Touya's point.

Juniper examined it, tutting a bit. "The poor dear," she murmured, expression pitiful. "Audino, come here for a second?" The lab's resident Audino made haste, appearing next to Juniper surprisingly quickly. Juniper gently took Lillipup from Touya's arms and transferred it to Audino's care. "Take this Lillipup to the healing room, okay?"

The pokémon made a sound to indicate its intent of carrying out this request before toddling away, cradling the Lillipup tenderly in its stubby arms.

Touya watched Audino retreat to said room, where the healing machine was kept. "How long do you think it'll take the little guy to recover?" he asked at length, concern managing to ebb into his voice.

Juniper cocked her head to the side a bit. "Hard to say, but I'm sure it'll be better by tomorrow," she said finally, nodding her head. "It's young, so it should be fine." She then turned back to Touya. "How exactly did it get hurt?"

The brunette shrugged. "No idea. I went outside this morning—"

"Shocking," Juniper noted with a joking smile.

"—and it was just lying there, whining and hurt," he continued, ignoring Juniper's comment. "Bri found him first, but she swears she didn't do anything."

Juniper hmm'd. "Strange."

It was only then that Touya noticed the boy from before nearing them, a pondering look on his face. "You don't suppose it could be someone's pokémon, do you?"

Juniper shook her head. "I doubt it."

Touya looked down at the boy. "Who's the kid?" he asked rather tactlessly, raising an eyebrow. "No, wait, lemme guess. He's...the illegitimate son of your politician lover from way back when that you had to give up due to money problems and has been living at an orphanage his whole life. That is, until you finally managed to track him down and raise him as your own again?"

The boy looked up at him with amused blue-grey eyes. "Close," he answered, and for a second Touya was convinced he'd successfully half-read Professor Juniper's mind.

Juniper rubbed a couple of fingers on her temple. "Touya, this is Lucas. He's visiting from the Sinnoh region—his mother is one of my closest friends. He's my new assistant; Professor Rowan recommended him for his insatiable desire to learn about pokémon." Lucas raised a hand in acknowledgement, smiling a smile that brightened his eyes considerably. Touya nodded in response. "And Lucas, this eccentric and tactless young man is Touya. He's actually a—"

"Resident of the town, and lives close by," Touya cut her off, giving Juniper a warning look that clearly said 'just stop at that.'

She frowned, but continued. "Right. He's pretty fond of pokémon as well."

"Cool," Lucas said. "Do you have any?"

Touya decided he'd humor the kid. "Sure do."

"Maybe we can battle sometime."

One of Touya's eyebrows raised. "Oh? Well, we'll see," he shrugged, knowing full well the kid couldn't handle even one of his five pokémon.

"Actually," Juniper began, tapping her chin, "that might just be a possibility. Touya, you've got spare rooms in your house, yes?"

The young man blinked and started to frown when he realized where exactly the professor was going with this. "...a few, yeah."

Now she clasped her hands together. "In that case, would you mind housing Lucas for me?"

Touya glanced at Lucas, whom looked rather shocked himself. "What, you mean you brought the kid down without any place to put him?"

Juniper lowered her pleading hands a bit. "My mind was elsewhere, I'll admit," she responded, though she didn't back down. "I'd be happy to share my room with him, but I'm both old and a woman...not exactly the ideal roommate. You could lend him an entire room all to himself, and I'm sure he'd keep it in good shape." She turned to the dark-haired boy. "What do you say, Lucas?"

For the first time he looked unsure of himself, eyes flitting from her to Touya and down to his feet. "...I wouldn't mind either way," he muttered. "Whatever's easiest."

From there, Juniper's eyes bored into him. Touya had half a mind to refuse her sudden request, but he felt kinda bad for the boy—_Lucas_, he reminded himself. Sharing a room with Juniper? _Eucch_. It wasn't his fault she was shoddy at thinking the simple things through. And he did have more than enough room to spare; _no need to be rude for no reason_, he thought to himself. He looked like a good enough kid.

He sighed. "Well, I don't mind. Just as long as he does the laundry."

Juniper's face brightened. "That's the spirit, Touya!" she praised, clapping him on the back. "Doesn't it feel good to be a decent person?"

The taller male's eye twitched. "Don't push it, Juniper."

Lucas dropped into a deep bow. "Thank you very much...mister Touya," he expressed his gratitude _way_ too formally for the laid back young man.

"Mister? I'm not _that_ much older than you," he corrected, chuckling a bit. "Touya's fine. And it's my pleasure; acquaintances don't let acquaintances sleep in the same room as a weird middle-aged woman." He appreciated Lucas' good-natured laugh. Perhaps they'd end up getting along alright.

"Looks like you two are allying against me already," Juniper noticed playfully, crossing her arms. "Anyway, why don't you show Lucas around a bit? He just arrived earlier this morning. You can settle in while you're at it; the real work begins tomorrow." She winked.

"Yes, ma'am," the boy agreed, heading to the back of the lab to gather his things. Touya ran a hand through his thick brunette locks with a sigh.

The things he got himself into.

**—e—n—d—c—h—a—p—t—e—r —**

_**A/N: I really like Touya, and I really like Lucas, so I think: why not pair them up? Thus this fic is born.**_

I don't have much to say, other than Touya's the former champion. In case that isn't clear enough. Most of this was actually written before I knew the specifics of B2W2, so that's why Bianca's _**missing, but who knows? Maybe she'll show up later.**_

Like anything else I write, don't expect this to be updated frequently. Seriously. But you should definitely leave a review. Please? C:


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